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New paint shows germ-fighting potential

Scientists have created a new antimicrobial paint kills disease-causing bacteria, mold, fungi and viruses. Apparently it can be "recharged" using a simple chlorination process.

"The paint contains a new antimicrobial polymer with a type of N-halamine, a bleach-like substance that kills germs. The polymer has no negative effects on the quality of latex paints. Tests showed that it kills a wide range of disease-causing microbes, including those that are resistant to multiple antibiotics, Yuyu Sun and Zhengbing Cao, the South Dakota-based researchers who developed the paint, said in a news release."

I am always curious and suspicious of these products because as I understand it, no one really knows how these antimicrobial properties get out of the paint or other surface coatings to fight microbes. This simple chlorination process to "recharge" the paint is also interesting to me. How does chlorine, which is antimicrobial in nature, recharge an antimicrobial paint?